279

Property of a Kansas Free Soil leader and associate of John Brown

The Constitution of the United States of America, with . . . the Declaration of Independence.

Philadelphia, 1854
3 lithograph plates including half-title and portrait of Washington; text illustrations. xlvi, 521 pages. 12mo, publisher's gilt cloth, minor wear; intermittent foxing; ownership inscriptions of George W. Smith on front endpapers. 

  • Notes: 7th edition of a compilation of the founding documents of the United States. The provenance is what gives this book its value. It is signed twice on the endpapers, "Geo. W. Smith, Lawrence, K.T." Kansas Territory became a state in 1861.  

    George W. Smith (1806-1878) came west from Pennsylvania as an early settler of Lawrence, Kansas, and became a leader of the territory's anti-slavery faction. In 1855, he was the colonel of the 5th Regiment of Kansas Volunteers in the Wakarusa War; one of his company commanders was none other than the radical abolitionist John Brown. Smith and Brown were among the six jailed for treason by the pro-slavery Kansas legislature in 1856. Smith ran for governor in 1857, but never took office. 

    The territory's efforts to pass a Constitution were a major subplot in the Kansas struggles. Smith was one of the Free Soil men who thought it strategic to recognize the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution and change it through amendment. In other words, he had more reason than most of us to have a copy of the United States Constitution close at hand.  This is his copy.
  • Condition:
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November 20, 2025 10:30 AM EST
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